With art-centric menus abounding this month and one of the year’s largest food festivals, Taste of Hong Kong, gearing up for its biggest run ever 22–25 March, this month is set to be a busy one for food lovers. Amidst the flurry of activity, a number of international guest chefs are getting ready to descend on our city to present signature dishes from their world-famous restaurants and engage in exciting collaborations with local Hong Kong heavyweights. Below, find our picks for the best dining pop-ups not to miss this month.
Dominique Bouchet at The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong
When: 15–17 March
Price: HK$1,988 plus 10% per person for 6-course dinner; HK$988 plus 10% per person for 4-course lunch
Culinary maestro Dominique Bouchet, from acclaimed two-Michelin-starred French restaurant Dominique Bouchet Tokyo, will be packing his knives and coming to Hong Kong this month to showcase his refined fine-dining technique at The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong. In the private dining rooms at Tin Lung Heen, guests will have a chance to savour Bouchet’s signature French dishes featuring seasonal Japanese ingredients, from sea urchin and scallop mousseline in a lobster bisque, to sumptuous Japanese wagyu in a four-pepper sauce — an ode to the importance of sauces in French cuisine. The promotion lasts for three days only, so make sure you make a booking in advance to get a taste of Bouchet’s exquisite gastronomy.
Tin Lung Heen, 102/F, The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, +852 2263 2270
Simon Rogan at Dining at Murasaki
When: 14–18 March
Price: HK$2,288 per person; book here
We named Dining at Murasaki one of our best omakase restaurants in Hong Kong, and for good reason: The kitchen continually impresses with its creativity and unique interpretation of French–Japanese cooking. Taking over the restaurant this month is chef Simon Rogan, who hails from Britain, another stalwart of the French–Japanese style of cooking. Chef Rogan gained an impressive two Michelin stars at his restaurant L’Enclume, with a focus on farming and foraging from the surrounding lands to present menus rooted in nature. He brings this ‘miracles of nature’ menu to Dining at Murasaki, with a selection of signature dishes from L’Enclume as well as exclusive dishes for the pop-up. For a special wine pairing, don’t miss the dinner on 15 March, with bottles specially curated by Master Sommelier Darius Allyn.
Dining at Murasaki, UG/F 08, Sino Plaza, 255 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, +852 2817 8383
HAKU x Florilège
When: 26 March, 12–2:30pm
Price: HK$1,200 plus 10% per person
While we’re still savouring the last fantastic culinary collaboration between Japanese kitchen HAKU and Manila’s famed Gallery Vask, the restaurant helmed by Agustin Balbi is forging ahead this month with another epic four-hands dinner, this time joining forces with two-Michelin-starred restaurant Florilège of Tokyo (#14 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017). The exclusive 7-course lunch menu is available for one day only, with chef Hiroyasu Kawate of Florilège and chef Balbi each showing off their love for fine Japanese ingredients. Creative dishes include Ebisu oysters with passion fruit and yuzu kosho, saba with potato and truffles, Koshihikari rice with Kristal caviar, and roasted duck with white asparagus, morel mushrooms and konbu.
HAKU, Shop OT G04B, G/F, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, +852 2115 9965
Test Kitchen x KU DE TA
When: 7–11 March, 7pm & 8:15pm seatings
Price: HK$980 for 8-course tasting menu, plus HK$300 for cocktails and wine pairing; book here
Test Kitchen has been bringing in some of the world’s best chefs and restaurants to our shores, and this month they’re welcoming one of Bali’s most popular restaurant and bar destinations, KU DE TA. From 7–11 March, Executive Chef Benjamin Cross and Head Chef Stephen Moore will be showering Hong Kong with a bit of Balinese hospitality, bringing over a wide range of local ingredients to apply their innovative cooking techniques. Expect big and bold flavours in beautifully plated dishes ranging from fish skins with tonnato and trout roe, to raw tuna with blackened eggplant and suckling pig terrine with palm hearts. As with previous pop-ups, prices are as reasonable as you’ll find for this level of gastronomy around town, with the 8-course menu priced at just HK$980 per person, plus HK$300 for wine pairing.
Test Kitchen, Shop 3, 158A Connaught Road West, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong, +852 9032 7628
VEA x Jade Dragon
When: 7–8 March
Price: HK$988 for lunch on 7 March; HK$2,280 for dinner on 7–8 March; prices subject to 10% surcharge
It’s set to be a meeting of two culinary giants from 7–8 March, as the revered chef Tam Kwong Fung of Jade Dragon in Macau joins hands with chef Vicky Cheng of Michelin-starred VEA to delight gourmands and wine aficionados in an exclusive one-off menu. Part of the 2018 MICHELIN Guide Hong Kong Macau Dining Series, which includes a year-long line-up of exciting culinary collaborations, this pop-up is one not to be missed, with both chefs known for their meticulous attention to detail, artistry on the plate and careful sourcing of ingredients. Chef Tam and chef Vicky will work side-by-side to present 4-course lunch and 8-course dinner menus, with dishes including short rib with shiitake and daikon, and chilled abalone with mustard seed and wasabi. If you can’t make it on 7–8 March, you can also ferry over to our sister SAR to catch the collaboration at Jade Dragon from 9–10 March.
VEA, 29-30/F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2711 8639
Frantzen’s Kitchen
When: 11 March, 7–9pm
Price: HK$36,000; Email frantzen@imperatrice.com.hk to request seats
Hong Kong is known as a city of excess, but Frantzen’s Kitchen upcoming collaboration with wine importer L’Imperatrice might be the most extravagant splurge yet for obsessive foodies and oenophiles. Priced at HK$36,000 (!) per person, the one-night dinner features a 13-course menu by chef Bjorn Frantzen of Frantzen’s Kitchen and chef Jim Lofdahl, former head chef at Restaurant Frantzen in Stockholm; with wine pairings by L’Imperatrice, an importer of fine wines from Burgundy with a focus on only top estates. All ingredients for the event are to be specially flown in from the Nordic region, while the selection of specialty wines designated Domaine de la Romanée Conti, or ‘DRC’, include only the most difficult and rarest wines to be procured from Burgundy. Certain to be an epic feast for the senses, this is one dinner you might consider splurging your paycheque on.
Frantzén’s Kitchen, 11 Upper Station Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, +852 2559 8508
Fukuoka Menu at WHISK
When: 8–22 March
Price: HK$890 for 6-course menu, HK$690 for 4-course menu; prices subject to 10% surcharge
Presenting a taste of Fukuoka flavours this month, WHISK at The Mira is celebrating jet-fresh ingredients from the region in a special collaboration menu, highlighting ingredients such as plump Ebisu oysters, Shikanoshima Island clams and fragrant Amaou strawberries. WHISK’s chef Oliver Li will be teaming up with Japanese guest chef Yasuhiro Yamada from Hakata House to showcase a breadth of flavours and ingredients from the region in a dinner degustation available from 8–22 March. Executive Chef Yasuhiro Yamada has over 30 years of experience in the culinary world, and will be personally on hand to present his signature dishes from 8–9 March. Book now to get an insightful taste of Fukuoka’s regional, ingredient-driven cuisine.
WHISK, 5/F, The Mira Hong Kong, 118 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, +852 2315 5999
Daniel Smeenk and Dharshan Munidasa at Island Shangri-La
When: 1–3 March for Daniel Smeenk menu; 29 March for Dharshan Munidasa menu
Price: HK$1,380 for 6 courses, HK$1,680 for 8 courses for Daniel Smeenk menu; HK$920 for Dharshan Munidasa menu
Island Shangri-La is hosting not one, but two exclusive pop-ups this month to tempt foodies and wine lovers. The first event kicks off from 1–3 March at Restaurant Petrus with chef Daniel Smeenk from Shangri-La Hotel, Beijing, who will reunite with Ricardo Chaneton of Petrus (both alumni of two-Michelin-starred Mirazur) for an elaborate tasting menu. Feast on signature dishes from his French restaurant, AZUR, such as marinated scallop with citrus yoghurt and Granny Smith apple, wagyu short rib pastrami with red cabbage, cauliflower salad and Sichuan pepper jus, and apple sponge cake with ginger custard.
Meanwhile, 29 March will see a one-night-only crustacean dinner from celebrity chef Dharshan Munidasa of Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Crab, one of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. Served fittingly at Lobster Bar and Grill, the special menu showcases chef Munidasa’s affinity for crustaceans — the star of his menu at the popular Ministry of Crab. Other dishes in the mouthwatering line-up include king prawn bisque, garlic chilli prawns, and pepper crab.
